MESSANGER:

As we walk from the stage to the bus in the dark between
stacks of scaff & staging a security guard comes up to us
with this enormous grin,

“There isn’t any job as good, where you get paid for making people
happy” he says.

His energy is spilling out all over the place, between the trucks
& buses. He’s broken ranks to run round & catch us, give us this
message that’s clear as a bell in his head. We smile, say,

“Thank you”

rapping towels around my neck & head to soak up the sweat & keep
warm I wave to him & head for the sanctuary of the bus.
I’m happy, tired, body relaxing, it’s been a long day of
waiting, focusing everything on the moment we hit the stage.
There’s just enough energy left to towel off & change into dry
clothes, alone between the bus bunks. I head down to the kitchen,
slip a meal in the oven, pop the ring on a can of Ginger Beer.
craving something sweet straight after the show. I sit quiet in a
corner of the bus, let the body take whatever shape it wants,
family & friends return smiling. Conversations about the operation
of the oven ensue. Life returns to taking care of business & the
business we’re in now is ‘food’! But later, as I settle back
in my bunk, slip the in-ears in & press ‘play’ on Joni Mitchell,
just as I’m drifting off in the dark of that cocoon, the aftershock
of the security guard’s energy hits me. He didn’t have to come back
to see us, didn’t need to pass on the message. He had a job to do,
a long cold, sun baked job & he would be expected to do that &
no more. And yet… he comes running back to find us to remind us
that through everything bad we’ve ever experienced there is no other
job on earth I would rather do & I’m lucky beyond luck to be still
doing it…with this extraordinary team of people & my mate rick.

Yeah, it’s cheesy, but I just fell off the bus, took my first shower
in two days & haven’t eaten. It’s the best I got, but it’s honest.

(K)